


lavender rose

by qnew



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, M/M, lapslock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 00:48:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17571110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qnew/pseuds/qnew
Summary: singer chanhee performs at a local restaurant, and flower shop owner changmin falls in love.





	lavender rose

**Author's Note:**

> hello! i apologize in advance if this isnt so great, writing isnt my strong suit but i love nyukyu sm so i had to do something for them. even though its not much, this is actually the longest fic ive ever written and its all for nyukyu!! best ship

“there you are!”

changmin, waving casually, approaches the round booth where four men are sat. their menus are still out, but no food in front of them and their drinks half full. it was obvious they had been waiting for changmin to arrive, and changmin sheepishly says hello, feeling bad for making them wait. juyeon, hyunjoon, and jaehyun are suddenly crammed to the left as eric shoves them aside to make room for changmin on the end of the semi-circle booth. changmin sits down and eric fixes him with an accusatory look. 

“we’ve been waiting for you! what took so long?” eric points a finger at changmin. he’s keeping eye contact with changmin while blindly trying to find the straw of his drink with his mouth, chasing it around the cup before finally catching it and taking a sip, never breaking his stare.

“i’m really sorry, i was caught up at the shop, i tried to close as fast as i could so i could get here on time…”

changmin had been too busy at the flower shop trying to finish bouquets for a last minute client with an event happening tomorrow, he hadn’t even noticed the seconds ticking away on the clock. his friends had invited him to dinner at a restaurant downtown called the L.O.U, and set a time for six thirty. it was already six twenty by the time changmin finished, so he had haphazardly turned all the lights off and locked the shop up before booking it to the L.O.U.

“it’s okay changmin,” juyeon reassured him. “you didn’t miss much.”

“we were just talking about whether eric thinks in korean or english,” hyunjoon says with a mischievous little smile on his face. he pauses for a second before saying, “i’m just surprised eric can even think at all.”

eric yells indignantly, then reaches across jaehyun and starts hitting hyunjoon, and changmin just watches on in a kind of horror as juyeon pries eric’s hands out of hyunjoon’s hair.

“you bitch! you messed up my hair!” hyunjoon shrieks and pulls out his phone, flipping to the front camera and using it as a mirror to fix his meticulously styled hair as eric watches on with a triumphant look on his face.

“i regret coming here,” jaehyun sighs.

before the two can start arguing again, a familiar face stops by their table. sangyeon stands there in his waiter getup, white button up shirt and a little black apron around his waist, with an exasperated look on his face.

“am i gonna have to kick you guys out of the restaurant?” sangyeon whispers, looking around at the people staring after witnessing eric’s assault on hyunjoon.

“no sir!” eric says a _bit_ too loudly, garnering them even more stares. juyeon buries his face in his hands.

“please just take our order,” changmin says desperately.

☆ ☆ ☆

sangyeon arrives with their dishes balanced precariously on both of his arms, setting each of them down in front of the five of them. jaehyun wastes no time in going to town on his burger, with such an urgency that changmin is honestly worried.

“sangyeon!” jaehyun catches the waiter’s attention before he can turn away. he’s still got food in his mouth and takes a long second to chew and swallow, sangyeon waiting there with his arms crossed. “did you say there was gonna be new performers tonight?”

“yeah, there will be. two guys, a singer and a pianist,” sangyeon informs them. “they should be starting here in a few minutes, if you want to watch,” he says before excusing himself and going back to work.

every now and then, the L.O.U, which changmin’s friend group frequents (and sangyeon works at) invites performers to do live singing for the customers. they have a little stage on the far wall of the restaurant, where every table and booth has a good view, and it’s got little spotlights to illuminate the performers. changmin’s seen pianists, guitartists, and one time, even a trumpet player, but his favorites were always the singers. 

changmin’s attention was drawn to two men stepping up onto the stage, one with dark red hair and the other with light pink hair. the red haired man sat down in front of a keyboard stand, and the second one with pink hair began adjusting the height of his microphone.

changmin couldn’t help but stare at the pink haired one, he was wearing a soft-looking grey sweater, his dyed hair styled down and framing what could quite possibly be the prettiest face changmin has ever seen. he had bright eyes and a cute smile playing on his lips as he talked quietly with the other guy, laughing into his hand. he was radiating such an ethereal kind of beauty, he reminded changmin of a flower, as cheesy as it sounds.

“you don’t have to be so obvious,” hyunjoon snickers as he watches changmin’s face.

“be quiet, they’re about to start,” juyeon shushes him.

“ah- hello?” the pink haired boy taps the microphone, but he’s met with a shrill feedback noise piercing the air, and he winces. the customers in the restaurant turn and face their attention to the two performers. “my name is chanhee, and this is kevin,” the pink haired boy- _chanhee_ -gestures to the other guy sat at the keyboard behind him.

the lights in the restaurant dim and the spotlights turn on, illuminating them with soft blue and purple light. chanhee seems kind of nervous, playing with his fingers, eyes downcast when he speaks. he announces the song they’re performing, but changmin forgets it as soon as he starts singing.

his voice is high pitched and sweet, so pretty and addicting, changmin feels like he could listen to him sing for hours. the gentle piano keys and his beautiful voice fill the whole restaurant, and changmin couldn’t take his eyes off chanhee even if he wanted to. his voice lilts and sways almost like it’s playing with the notes coming out of his mouth, and if changmin was drawn to him before, he was _captivated_ as soon as he began to sing. changmin could see the shy demeanor chanhee had at the start slowly melt away.

the gentle blue and purple lights emanating from the spotlights above chanhee’s head cast light upon his face, his eyes are closed and hands are gripping the microphone stand as he sings the last few notes of the song. the patrons inside the restaurant clapped, and chanhee opened his eyes again, looking at all the people applauding their performance. changmin’s breath hitched in his throat as chanhee’s eyes fell on him, but just as quickly as they did, he looked away.

changmin looked down at his plate, suddenly realizing he had been too caught up in the performance to finish eating, but sangyeon was already coming back with the ticket.

changmin grips the sleeve of sangyeon’s shirt before he can rush off again.

“do you know when they will perform again?” changmin asks, and sangyeon groans when he sees the look in his friend’s eyes. 

“oh _no_ , please don’t tell me you already like him,” sangyeon pleads, and changmin just gives him a guilty look. 

changmin was known to be a hopeless romantic, known to wear his heart on his sleeve. he was notorious for falling in love too soon, falling too hard, and scaring the other person away in the end. changmin always found himself caught in his feelings, feet tangled up in the red string of fate attached to his pinky and the pinky of whoever he fell in love with that week.

“no! i mean- okay, maybe…” changmin looks away from sangyeon’s hard gaze.

“which one?” hyunjoon asks. “is it the singer? he was cute.”

changmin nods solemnly, watching chanhee and his friend step off the stage. 

☆ ☆ ☆

changmin ends up squeezing information out of a reluctant sangyeon, and he learns that chanhee and kevin are scheduled to perform again the following wednesday and saturday. watching chanhee sing again on wednesday was just as incredible as the first time, and to say changmin was whipped was an understatement.

it’s saturday– the same day chanhee and kevin were set to perform at the L.O.U for the third time– and changmin’s friends have scheduled to eat dinner together (most definitely _not_ at changmin’s insistence).

“so, when are you gonna ask the singer guy out?”

sunwoo is standing with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall of the flower shop. changmin is currently rearranging the display at the front of the store, moving the bouquets around so they’re easily viewed from the street, startling when sunwoo speaks.

changmin whips around. “who told you?”

“hyunjoon.”

“of course it was.”

“i swear, it’s a little creepy. you’re obsessed with him and you haven’t even talked to him.”

“if you’ve come here just to be rude, you can leave,” changmin huffs.

“i’m not being rude, i’m being honest. at least try speaking to him, it’ll be less creepy than watching from afar and being desperate,” sunwoo says bluntly. he’s feeling the petals of a flower between his fingers, and changmin swats his hand away.

“just take my advice. make some kind of move instead of pining over someone who doesn’t know you exist.”

“since when are you a relationship expert?” changmin snarks back, shoving flowers into the display stands with more aggression.

“listen, who’s the one that actually has a boyfriend here?” sunwoo retaliates without hesitation. he pulls his phone out of his pocket and checks the time. “i’ve gotta head over to haknyeon’s place. think about what i said, unless you want to keep being a lovestruck loser. i’ll see you tonight,” he says with a sense of finality, and exits the front door.

changmin peels off his gloves and rubs his eyes. when they fall open again, he blearily looks around the shop, his gaze falling on the flower sunwoo had been messing with earlier. it was a lavender rose, crooked from sunwoo’s disturbance, and changmin stands it up straighter. _make some kind of move,_ sunwoo had said. changmin sighs.

☆ ☆ ☆

“so, changmin, is your boyfriend performing tonight?” haknyeon asks with a cheeky smile on his face.

to be honest, changmin didn’t know what he expected inviting everyone out to dinner on the day chanhee was there. of course they were gonna make fun of him.

he groans and puts his face in his hands. “i’m guessing sunwoo told you?” he asks, voice muffled through his fingers.

“yup!” haknyeon chirps gleefully.

changmin lifts his head again. “can _any_ of you keep a secret?”

“your love life is ours as well! get used to it,” jaehyun says, sweeping his arm across the table and gesturing to everyone there.

changmin just sighs and falls quiet as the others continue talking.

see, he has a plan of some sort. maybe not a plan, that sounds like he’s plotting a bank heist or something. an idea for a romantic gesture that hopefully won’t be creepy. before he left for the L.O.U, changmin had picked a lavender rose out of one of the displays, wrapped it in paper, and tucked it into his bag. he plans on somehow giving it to chanhee anonymously after his performance, as some secret admirer kinda thing. it’s cheesy, and kind of indirect, but changmin hasn’t built up the guts yet to actually speak to chanhee. he’ll get there eventually. he hopes.

when chanhee steps out on stage for the first time that night, he’s the only thing changmin can focus on. he can vaguely hear hyunjoon and jaehyun giggling, probably at him, but he couldn’t care less.

every time he sees chanhee, he’s just as breathtaking as the time before. his soft, pink hair, and shimmery eye makeup, and bright eyes, and pretty lips, and– changmin should probably stop himself before he starts hyperventilating.

chanhee’s got a easygoing smile on his face as he talks into the mic, introducing himself and kevin to the audience and giving them the titles of the songs they’re covering today. he’s gotten a lot more comfortable on stage since the first time changmin saw him. he just seems so perfect, and changmin is entranced, and when he starts singing, changmin just falls even deeper.

changmin wonders, is it this healthy to be obsessed with someone’s voice? how can he even listen to other performers at the restaurant after hearing chanhee, it’s like they don’t even compare. chanhee’s pretty vocals resonate through the restaurant, and changmin thinks he could never get tired of this. 

after the performance ends, changmin flags down sangyeon when he walks past. silently, he leads a confused sangyeon away from the table into a more secluded area of the restaurant. telling sangyeon about his plan in front of everyone would no doubt end up in relentless teasing from the guys, and changmin is already tired of their antics as it is.

“okay so, i need you to do something for me…” changmin trails off, suddenly unsure of himself. what if chanhee doesn’t like it and thinks he’s creepy? will it ruin what little chance he had with chanhee in the first place?

“yes? what is it?”

changmin takes a deep breath, and reaches for his bag, pulling out the rose wrapped in white tissue paper, a little purple bow tied neatly around the middle.

“could you… give this to chanhee?” he says, gently handing over the rose.

sangyeon has a look on his face like he suddenly understands. “sure,” he smiles at changmin, who is a little red in the face. “do you want me to say it’s from you?”

“no! no, i– preferably not.” changmin runs his hands through his hair. “i want it to be kind of an anonymous thing.”

“i’ll take it to him now, before he leaves.” changmin just nods and watches sangyeon rush off.

later, after dinner had already finished, changmin was standing by the entrance of the restaurant about to leave when he receives a text.

**sangyeon hyung**  
_i gave the rose to chanhee, he seemed surprised and asked who it was from, i didn’t tell him it was you tho. he got kinda flustered and thanked me and then left. it went well!_

changmin grinned at his phone screen. the mental image of a flustered, blushing chanhee was giving him heart palpitations.

**me**  
_thank u soooooo much hyung!!!_

changmin still had a goofy smile on his face as he shut his phone off with a click and exited the restaurant, thinking maybe this was a good idea after all.

☆ ☆ ☆

changmin was busy preparing flowers for a client’s wedding when the bell above the flower shop’s door tinkled gently as someone entered. he was working on a bridal bouquet, an extravagant, over the top bouquet filled with big pink peonies (a little gaudy in changmin’s opinion, but anything to please the client). he turns around to greet the customer, and almost drops the bouquet in shock.

standing at the entrance of the store, looking around at all the flowers displayed inside the shop, was chanhee.

changmin catches himself before he can let the bridal bouquet drop, and meets chanhee’s eyes, a little flustered.

“ah- hello, what can i help you with?” changmin stutters out. this was the first time he’s ever actually _spoken_ to chanhee, or even seen him up close for that matter. he looks like an angel, dressed in white and the flowers surrounding him, changmin can practically see the halo above his head.

chanhee stares at him for a moment. “have i seen you before?” he’s got a puzzled look on his face, like he’s trying to place where he knows changmin from.

changmin’s stomach is turning as his thoughts race at a million miles per hour. _he can’t possibly know i’m the one who gave him the rose, can he?_ changmin wrings his hands nervously. 

“um… i uh- i’ve seen you um, sing a few times at the L.O.U,” changmin stumbles over his words, giving him a weak smile.

“that’s it! i’ve seen you in the crowd before,” chanhee smiles brightly, and changmin’s stomach is probably doing somersaults at this point.

“can i help you with anything?” changmin mentally pats himself on the back for not stumbling over his words this time.

“oh, yeah…” chanhee suddenly looks a little bashful. he hesitates before he says his next words, “i was wondering what to give someone for a confession?”

changmin feels his heart drop to the floor. chanhee is confessing to someone? he suddenly feels sick. why does changmin feel betrayed even though he’s never actually told chanhee he likes him directly? imagining chanhee confessing to someone else, giving a cute girl or guy a bouquet of flowers from _changmin’s shop_ sends a course of hot jealousy down his spine. he scoffs internally. this is the first time they’ve spoken, chanhee doesn’t even know his name, let alone the huge crush he’s been harboring for the past week. changmin picks himself up out of his whirlwind of thoughts to respond to chanhee.

“maybe you could try red carnations?” changmin tries his best to stop himself from sounding sullen, but it doesn’t quite work. he can’t even meet chanhee’s eyes again, looking everywhere but his face. “they mean love, fascination, and admiration.” changmin’s gut twists at every word he squeezes out.

“yeah, that would work,” chanhee still seems a little shy, too busy being embarrassed to notice changmin’s inner turmoil.

wordlessly, changmin leads him towards a bouquet of red carnations, chanhee nods and gently takes them. he thanks changmin, but changmin barely even hears him. everything seems like a haze as he checks out chanhee’s purchase, sending him out the door with a smile that doesn’t quite meet his eyes and a stiff wave.

☆ ☆ ☆

“you need to get over the guy, seriously.”

changmin’s sat on younghoon’s couch, staring blankly at his phone, trying to ignore younghoon’s words. haknyeon is beside him, trying and failing to feed him some ice cream before giving up and eating it himself.

he’s been like this for the past few days, sad and gloomy, like he’s got his own personal rain cloud above his head at all times. he goes through his daily motions the same, but without feeling or emotion. he _knows_ it’s stupid, he _knows_ he shouldn’t care this much about a crush he’s had for only a week, but he can’t help it. this is how it’s always been, changmin falling in love and getting his heart broken, only to have it happen again. and it’s always his fault, no normal person would fall as hard as he did in as short amount of time as he did, the truth is he put himself through this and only has himself to blame.

“hyung, he’s always like this. give him a week and he’ll find someone else to fall in love with.”

changmin feels anger well up inside him, and _god_ , he knows it’s true, but he can’t help but be upset that haknyeon is invalidating his emotions like this. he pushes haknyeon to the side and stands up. 

“my shift starts soon, i better get going,” he mumbles dully, heading for the door. he’s tugging his shoes on when younghoon stands beside him and changmin looks up at him.

“look, i know you’re sad, but it’s upsetting to see you like this all the time. try and cheer up, and remember we’re always here for you.”

changmin smiles weakly and thanks him before heading out the door.

☆ ☆ ☆

changmin works at the flower shop the same as always, but on autopilot. his hands move even though he doesn't think about about moving them, and he just lets himself fall into the rhythm of the same motions he always does.

it upsets him knowing his friends are worried. changmin doesn’t want them to worry about him, but he can’t find it in him to come out of this depression chanhee has left him in. no, chanhee didn’t leave him like this, it was nowhere near chanhee’s fault. it was _changmin’s_ fault, he shouldn’t have fallen so hard for someone who doesn’t even know he exists, someone who he had never even met or gotten to know. yet every time he sees lavender roses inside his shop, something bitter crawls up his throat and makes him feel hollow inside. even now, he finds his gaze wandering over to the light purple petals in the displays at the front, and he takes a deep breath before tearing his eyes away.

the familiar bell above the door rings as someone walks in, and when changmin turns around he has a sense of deja vu mixed with dread.

there stands chanhee, in the same spot he was in the last time changmin saw him, looking just as beautiful as he always does, making changmin’s heart stutter inside his chest. he’s fighting to look away from chanhee, because the more he does, the more it hurts, but something inside him just can’t stop staring. changmin can’t even get out the usual greeting of _can i help you?_ before chanhee speaks.

“it was you, wasn’t it?” he asks, a slight waver to his voice. “the flower? at the restaurant?”

changmin can’t even find it in himself to deny it, so he just nods. he slowly registers his face turning hot, embarrassed by the fact that chanhee was _here_ and he _knew_. the lack of emotion he’s been feeling for the past few days suddenly comes flooding back like a tsunami, all in the form of embarrassment and surprise. changmin buries his face in his hands, eyes peeking up at chanhee from between his fingers.

“how did you know it was me?” he manages to force out.

chanhee looks flushed too, and if changmin wasn’t busy enough with his own embarrassment he would have thought it was cute.

“when i got the flower i was really surprised and flattered that someone liked my singing that much to give me something like that.” chanhee is standing in front of changmin, hands folded in front of him and shyly staring at his feet. “when i came here the first time, i recognized you from the restaurant, because you were there for every one of my performances since i started. i saw the same kind of flowers that the waiter gave to me sitting behind you, and when i asked you about flowers for um- a confession…” chanhee’s cheeks are as pink as his hair, and changmin wants to scream. “you seemed to get really down. and when i sang again and didn’t see you in the crowd, i kind of knew.”

at this point, changmin had taken his face out of his palms, and he ran a hand through his hair, thoroughly distressed. “i’m sorry about that– about _all_ of this, it was probably creepy to give you the flower, and you already liked someone, i’m _really_ sorry–“

“no!” chanhee cuts him off and changmin stands there, a little surprised. “sorry– it wasn’t creepy, and i _don’t_ already like someone.”

“then what were the confession flowers about?”

“that was for my friend, kevin, you know the one who plays the piano with me?” changmin nods. “he’s been wanting to confess to jacob, this boy he likes, for ages, and he’s a total disaster when it comes to romance, so i tried to help him out.” chanhee rushes through his sentence, trying to explain as fast as he could.

changmin just stands there, shocked, like his world has been turned around 360 degrees in the past five minutes. he doesn’t know how to process all this, the fact that the boy he’s been heartbroken over the past 3 days has just told him everything is a big misunderstanding. it feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders, and changmin suddenly feels giddy. but what does this mean now?

“so, not that i’m complaining, but, why are you here now, explaining all this?” changmin wonders.

chanhee reaches into his pocket and pulls out a little slip of paper, and hands it over to changmin. “i thought the flower was really sweet of you, and i want to try this again.”

changmin unfolds the paper, and sees a phone number neatly scrawled in black ink. he’s in utter disbelief as he stares at the paper, and he looks up to see chanhee standing at the door of the shop, hand on the handle. 

“call me!” chanhee says and exits the store, leaving changmin with only the soft tinkle of the bell and the piece of paper between his fingers.

☆ ☆ ☆

“changmin?”

changmin’s eyes crack open. he was almost asleep, just on the precipice of falling into dreamland when chanhee’s voice cuts through the silence.

“hmm?” changmin hums, hardly awake and on the verge of slumber again. they’re lying in bed together, changmin on his back, and chanhee curled next to him with his head on changmin’s chest and their legs tangled together under the covers.

“you know the meanings of all the flowers, right?”  
chanhee asks quietly.

“mhm, how come?” changmin mumbles.

“remember the flower you gave me before we started dating, the one you made sangyeon give me at the restaurant?” changmin suddenly realizes where this is going, and is wide awake. “what did that one mean?”

“oh no… baby, it’s _embarrassing_ ,” he whines. 

“come on, you have to tell me now!” chanhee giggles.

“it was a lavender rose…” changmin is glad for the complete darkness in the room, lest chanhee see the flush on his face. “lavender roses mean love at first sight.”

chanhee _aww_ ’s and buries his face further in changmin’s neck. “you’re so romantic,” he teases.

“yes, thank you, now i’m gonna go to sleep,” he says, running his fingers through chanhee’s hair and closing his eyes again.

“i love you,” chanhee whispers.

changmin smiles. “i love you too. goodnight.”


End file.
